Two police officers attached to the Anambra State command were Thursday killed by hoodlums.

The officers were attacked and killed in Nnewi, during a gun duel with the hoodlums.

It was gathered that during the duel, the hoodlums tossed an improvised explosive device (IED) at the police operatives, and it exploded, killing two of the men in the squad, while their patrol van was also set ablaze.

The state police command confirmed the incident. The spokesperson of the command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, in a press release said the manhunt for the attackers have commenced.

He said: “Joint Security Force begins manhunt operation on armed men who murdered two police operatives on investigation activities in the early hours of today 3/10/2024 at Uruagu, Nnewi North.

“Preliminary information reveals that the armed men started shooting sporadically on sighting the police operatives and threw an improvised explosive into their operational vehicle.

“Unfortunately, two of the operatives paid the supreme price while the vehicle caught fire.

“Given the above, the command calls on members of the public especially the eyewitnesses and others to aid the ongoing police operations in the area.”

The Federal Road Safety Corps has unveiled strategies to combat Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs), shifting focus from motor park rallies to community-based initiatives across the country.

The Corps Public Education Officer, Assistant Corps Marshal Olusegun Ogungbemide, said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Ogungbemide said the corps was concerned about the loss of steam and relevance of the motor park rally style of reaching out to drivers and members of the public in its campaign for safer road environment.

He said that the corps had changed to the town hall meetings and press conferences as the alternative campaign strategies while not totally negating motor park rallies.

Ogungbemide noted that over the years, the corps had always relied on the motor park rally method of public enlightenment programs by which drivers and travellers were gathered at the parks.

This, he said were where road safety education and enlightenment issues were shared to them through interactive sessions with the participants.

He said, “But with increasing cases of lawlessness being displayed by drivers, mostly commercial and the fatalities recorded from road traffic crashes, the Corps has since discovered the impotence of such method.

“This in which is where the main target audience are not readily available at the time of the rally. Consequently, a new method has to be worked out in alignment with developments in communication systems.

“The Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed, approved the use of town hall meetings, on transit campaign and press conferences as the most suitable means of communicating road safety messages to the target groups which every command has been directed to adopt henceforth.

“That is in his commitment to eradicating pervasive cases of road traffic crashes being recorded across the country.

” The Corps Marshal in his diligent commitment to finding solutions through appropriate means of reaching out to the public especially the drivers and Commuters in passing road safety messages saw the need to review our old engagement system with the public through a more effective communication system.

“That was what gave birth to the ideas of town hall meetings and press conferences, which the National Headquarters of the Corps and field commands would henceforth be committed to utilising.

“This include the yearly ember months special enlightenment programs.”

The FRSC spokesman stressed that in giving effect to the new method, the usual flag off of the end of the year special road safety campaign for this year would be different.

He said that commanding Officers and public education officers in the field commands would constantly brief the public through engagement with various stakeholders in town hall fashion and press conferences.

“For wider and and effective broadcast, Mosques, Churches and other sociocultural settings would become the new platform for engaging with the participants.

“This aligns with the global focus on the menace of RTCs which requires that every community, mosque, churches and schools actively participate in programs that could create public consciousness on road safety matters.

“This will be with a view to averting the huge social and economic loses which road traffic crashes cause to humanity,”he stressed.

Ogungbemide, however, called on members of the public to embrace the new campaign method, emphasising the need for the public to take ownership of the campaign for safer road environment.

This, he said would be through massive participation of everyone especially the commuters that were most vulnerable in case of crashes.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that FRSC as the lead agency in road traffic management and safety administration is charged with the responsibility of averting road carnage using all clinical and enforcement strategies to create safer road environments.

The Yobe State Commissioner of Police, CP Garba Ahmed, has ordered an immediate investigation into a homicide incident involving Inspector Mohammed Bulama, attached to the Police Mobile Force, 41 Division, Damaturu, the state capital.

We learnt in a press release, on Tuesday, by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Yobe Police Command, DSP Dungus Abdulkarim, that on September 29, 2024, at approximately 18:20 hours, Inspector Mohammed Bulama, 38, was involved in a heated argument with Abdulmalik Dauda (aka Baksha), 39, of Pompomari Ward, Damaturu, over an unresolved transaction at the Zango Area.

The dispute escalated into a physical altercation, during which Bulama allegedly stabbed Dauda in the chest leading to his sustaining head injuries during the confrontation, the statement added.

Bulama was promptly arrested at the ‘C’ Divisional Police Headquarters, where he had sought refuge. The state Criminal Investigation Department has commenced an investigation, and Bulama is currently in custody pending internal disciplinary action and prosecution.

Ahmed condemned Bulama’s actions and expressed condolences to Dauda’s family, assuring the public of a thorough and swift investigation to ensure justice would be served.

“The Nigeria Police Force will not tolerate any misconduct from its personnel. We will ensure that justice is served and the perpetrator is held accountable,” Ahmed stated.

Ten people lost their lives on Tuesday night when a Toyota Sienna bus ran into a stationary truck at Abule Osun, inward Iyana Iba, along the Lagos-Badagry expressway.

In a statement on the accident, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, permanent secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said “in response to distress calls received via the 767/112 Toll-Free Lines at 2307hrs, LASEMA activated its Dolphin Response Team from Igando Base”.

“On arrival at the scene of the road traffic accident at Abule Osun, inward Iyana Iba, along Lagos-Badagry Expressway, it was discovered that a Toyota Sienna bus, registration number BDG 342 FS, laden to capacity with passengers from the Eastern part of the country was involved in a road accident with a parked SHACMAN truck, registration number unknown,” the statement reads.

“Further investigations revealed that the truck, which was laden with granite, was parked on the road, shutting down about half of the carriage way, while the Toyota Sienna on top speed, unknowingly crashed into the parked truck from behind.

“Ten people lost their lives to the unfortunate incident, while three were criticalIy injured.”

Among the dead are three male adults, four female adults, two female children and one male child.

One female adult and two children were taken to a nearby hospital by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

“The accidental Toyota Sienna was recovered with the aid of the agency’s lite tow truck and towed to the FRSC station,” the statement added.

“The remaining female adult, and the 2 rescued children (a male and female) fortunately, survived the incident after receiving immediate medical attention from LASAMBUS at the incident scene when they were returned there, before being taken to LASUTH for further treatment.”

The number 1 in Eiye Confraternity in Ijoko, Ogun State, Adejumo Wasiu a.k.a Bombler, has given reason for the order he gave his second in command and other members to kill a rival cultist, Segun, a.k.a Adisa, saying that it was to avenge his father’s death in the hands of the Number 1 Black Axe cultist and his members.

The Police Public Relations Officer of Ogun State Police Command, SP OmololaOdutola, when contacted by the Nigerian Tribune, said that Wasiu was among the cultists recently arrested by the Anti-Cultism Squad led by the Commander, CSP Sunday Daramola, after several killings by rival cult groups in different parts of the state.

The PPRO stated that investigation revealed that in May this year, Wasiu was the one who ordered the killing of an Aye cultist, Adisa, after which he jumped bail on a case of cultism he was being tried on in a court when he learnt that he was going to be picked for murder.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that he went to hide in Igboora in Oyo State where he was eventually found, arrested and taken back to Eleweran for interrogation.

In an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, Wasiu, aged 37, opened up: “I’m from Abeokuta. I was selling used clothes and shoes. I lived in Ifo before relocating to Igboora in Oyo State when I knew I was wanted by the police for the murder of Adisa.

“I belong to Eiye Confraternity. I am the Number 1 in Ijoko. I was in Ifo when this incident happened. In March this year, I was on a motorcycle on my way to Sango when I was stopped by the police. Truly, my dressing looked like that of a Yahoo boy and I believed that was what they would ask me.

“When the police questioned me on my source of living, I told them I was into sales of used clothes and shoes. They asked to check my phone, and because I had nothing to hide, I consented. They checked through and didn’t see anything incriminating until they got to the WhatsApp and saw a group chat which I had archived.

“It was an occultic society to which I belonged. I had over 100 messages that I had not gone through. They asked if I belonged to the cult and I confessed to it, but told them I was no longer in the group, which was why I put it in the archive.

“There was court sitting on July 1. On a particular day, someone whom I know among state security agencies (name withheld) called and warned me that I should not go to court as I would be arrested for murder.

“I was afraid because of this, and prior to it, I had been thinking of relocating to Igboora in Oyo State. I had already secured an accommodation but I had yet to furnish it or get household items.

“However, when I heard of what I was likely to experience, I decided to jump bail and went to Igboora. The man who stood as surety for me started calling me, asking me why I didn’t go to court and telling me that he had been summoned by the court. I confided in him what I heard and told him it was the reason I didn’t go to court.

A lawyer, simply identified as Okechukwu, was killed in a tragic road crash that occurred along the Awka area of the Awka-Enugu Expressway in Anambra State on Sunday night.

Our correspondent gathered that the lawyer died after his vehicle hit an abandoned articulated truck on the road and somersaulted into a nearby drainage.

A kinsman of the victim who identified him said the deceased had just deposited the remains of his late mother at the mortuary before the incident happened.

The kinsman, who pleaded anonymity, said, “The incident happened along the expressway along the Awka area. The deceased thought the truck was moving, but when he realised it wasn’t moving, it was too late as he hit it, and his car veered into the gutter.

“The lawyer had recently welcomed a newborn with his wife, whom he married in February. His sudden demise has left his loved ones in shock.

“He had just put his late mother in the mortuary and was preparing for the funeral. Now, he’s joined her in the mortuary. The incident serves as a stark reminder of life’s unpredictability and the importance of cherishing every moment.

“It was an avoidable death caused by allowing abandoned vehicles to stay on the road longer than necessary. The stationary vehicle was at a dangerous position on the road thereby posing a danger to other road users.”

It was gathered that the victim’s remains had been deposited at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku, Awka, morgue after he was confirmed dead.

Other residents have criticised traffic officials including the Federal Road Safety Corps for allegedly allowing the abandoned truck to remain on the road longer than necessary without taking action to tow it away.

But reacting to the development, the Corps Commander, FRSC, Anambra State Command, Joyce Alexander, commiserated with the family members of the victim, praying God to comfort all of them and take care of the family he left behind.

Alexander said the abandoned truck could not be towed because of the load it was carrying, adding that she had directed the FRSC personnel to cordon off the scene with reflective tape.

She said, “I am aware that he ran into a broken-down stationary truck. Unfortunately, this happened in the night and the FRSC rescue team that went for the rescue operation could not ascertain from any eyewitness what really happened.

“It was not a tyre burst, as no tyre burst was observed. The only likely explanation is excessive speed which might have led to loss of control. We arrived at this conclusion because of the skid marks and yeo marks trailing on the crash scene.

“I have also visited the scene to confirm the marks and the apparent struggle with the steering before the vehicle eventually tumbled. I will like to point out here that the FRSC is not, and cannot be at every place.

“And that’s why we solicit the collaboration and assistance of so many groups and individuals, the media inclusive. That is also why we have the FRSC toll-free emergency number: 122.

We rely on every member of society to alert us on crashes and obstructions.”

He noted that because the truck could not be towed due to the load it was carrying, he had directed his staff to cordon off the scene with reflective tapes to warn oncoming traffic in the night, pending when the truck could be offloaded and towed in the morning.